Voting-machine apparatus.



PATENTBD FEB. 21, 1905.

F. R. TAISEY.

VOTING MACHINE APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 16, 1903.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Grier/um PATENTED FEB. 21, 1905.

F. R. TAISEY.

VOTING MACHINE APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 16, 1903.

2 SHEETSSHEET Z.

THAN MH WHH Patented February 21, 1905..

PATENT OFFICE.

FRED R. TAISEY, OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA.

VOTING-MACHIN E APPARATUS- SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 783,157, dated February 21, 1905.

Application lilerl November 16, 1903. Serial No. 181,399.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRED R. TAISEY, of Indianapolis, county of Marion, and State of Indiana, have invented a certain new and useful Voting-Machine Apparatus; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which like numerals refer to like parts.

The object of this invention is to improve the booth construction for voting-machines and the external means for operating the voting-machine.

One feature of the invention consists of such an arrangement of the booth and of the lever or door moved by the voter as he onters the booth and approaches the voting-machine and leaves the voting-machine and booth that he will have to leave in the same way that he enters, and the same lever will reset the machine as he enters and operate the voting mechanism as he leaves.

In detail, Figure l is a plan view of the apparatus with a voting-machine in place, parts being broken away and parts in dotted lines. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same with the top and bottom portions broken away. Fig. 3 is a plan view of a portion of the guardrail and a horizontal section of the means attached to the voting-machine through which the gate-lever operates the mechanism within the voting-machine, said section being below the bevel-gears in Fig. 4, and parts broken away. Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the portion of the mechanism which is shown in Fig. 3, a part of the casing being broken away and parts in vertical section. Fig. 5 is a plan view of a slot-casing through which a disk may be introduced for unlocking the gatelever of the apparatus. Fig. 6 is a view of the side of the disk. Fig. 7 is a view of the edge of the disk. Fig. 8 is an elevation of one edge of the slot-casing shown in Fig. 5, it being centrally broken away. Fig. 9 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 10 is an elevation of the other edge of the slot-casing centrally broken away. Fig. 11 is a vertical section on the line 11 11 of Fig. 3, showing a central vertical section of the lower part of the slot-casing and the parts cooperating therewith.

In detail I show herein a voting-machine 53 such as appears in a formerapplication by me for improvements in votingmachines, Serial No. 176,591, filed October 12, 1903. In it 57 represents the voting-keys, and the straight-ticket-voting levers. 70 is a shaft within the voting-machine which operates the mechanism therein. In this particular type of machine the voter selects and sets mechanism, which is operated as he is leaving the machine for actuating the registers of the voting-machine. This is done through the shaft 70, and likewise in said machine the mechanism within the votinganachine is reset through the shaft 70. The apparatus and the locking mechanism herein shown, therefore, are arranged with reference to a machine operating in the manner just specified. However, I do not wish to limit this invention to this machine, as the same may be applied to any machine; but the explanation just given is for the purpose of rendering the invention clear.

To the end of the voting-machine a casing 93 is secured, within which abevel-gear is mounted on the shaft 70 for actuating the latter. A horizontal bevel-gear 91 onthe vertical shaft 92, mounted in the casing 93, engages and drives said pinion 90. The shaft 92 is actuated by the ratchet-wheel 9 1, that is secured on it. The ratchet-wheel in turn is actuated by a spring-pawl 95, mounted on a plate 96. Said plate is loosely mounted on the bottom of the casing 93 and has a central circular extension 196, that extends down through and iits in a corresponding circular opening in the bottom of the casing. This circular opening holds the plate 96 concentric with the shaft 92 and enables the plate to be turned independentl. of the shaft. Said plate is actuated by the gate-lever 97, that is secured to the downward extension on the plate.

The gate-lever extends horizontally across an tended that a voter in approaching the machine shall pass between these guard-rails, and in doing so he will come in contact with the gate-lever and push it inward on the guardrails toward the voting-machine from the fullline position to the dotted -line position. (Shown in Fig. 1.) The inner guard-rail 98 is comparatively short and terminates at the near The outer guardend of the voting-machine. rail is continued parallel with the voting-machine for its full length and then is turned at a right angle and extends to the far end of the voting-machine. Therefore the voter is prevented from passing beyond the voting-machine, and he can leave the machine only in the way he entered. After the voter has thus entered he operates the voting-machine, and when done starts to leave and his body then engages an arm 100 on the gate-lever. That arm extends at a right angle outward from the gate-lever when the gate-lever is in its closed position. When the gate-lever is in its open position, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1, the arm 100 extends across the passage-way for the voter, so that he cannot leave the voting-machine Without engaging said arm as he moves outward, and thereby the gatelever is returned from the dotted-line position to the closed position. As the gate-lever is pushed inward the plate 96 is turned byit, so as to move the pawl backward in the form shown herein, and therefore the internal mechanism of the voting-machine is not operated; but the outward movement of the gate-lever through the plate 96 and pawl 95 operates the ratchet-wheel 9 1 and the shaft 70, which operates the internal mechanism of the votingmachine.

The locking mechanism which prevents a voter entering the passage-way between the guard-rails 98 and 99 unless he is entitled to is as follows: The plate 96 has a series of upwardlyextending ratchet-teeth 107, that have a face inclined to the direction of the movement of the plate when it is actuating the shaft and a vertical face in the direction of movement of the plate when it does not actuate said shaft. These teeth are engaged by a dog 108, extending down from the triplever 109, which is mounted by the pin 110 to the inner side wall of the casing 93, as shown in Fig. 11. A spring 117 tends to hold the dog down into engagement with the teeth on the plate 96. This trip-lever is actuated by disks 112, that are inserted in the top of the slot-casing 113. The trip-lever is at the bottom of the slot, as seen in Fig. 11, and when the disk 112 is inserted it will drop down upon said lever and actuate it into the dotted-line position, (shown in Fig. 11,) and there is an outlet-opening 115 in the edge of the slot-casing at its lower end to permit the escape of the disk. There is a higher tooth 116 on the plate 96 at the end of the series of teeth 107.

The operation is as follows: A voter who is entitled to vote receives a disk 112.1rom the election oflicer. He must first insert that in a slot, which will unlock the gate-lever, and then he can enter the passage-way between the guard-rails that leads to the voting machine. The disk inserted drops down upon the trip-lever 109 and moves it to the dottedline position, (shown in Fig. 11,) which is suflieient to permit the dog 108 to escape the teeth 107. The voter then enters the passage-way between the guard-rails and moves the gatelever inward, which rotates the disk 96, and when the high tooth 116, which is the historic of the series of teeth on said disk, comes into engagement with the dog 108 it elevates said dog higher than the dotted-line position, (shown in Fig. 11,) which throws the other end of the trip-lever 109 lower than the dottedline position, (shown in Fig. 11,) and that permits the disk to escape through the slot 115. For this purpose the high tooth 1.16 is rounded on top. The voter then can push the gate-lever in so as to give him access to the voting-machine, and as he returns he will move the gate-lever back to its closed position, and such return movement of the lever will operate the machine.

\Vhile the guard-rails 9S and 99 are shown, the inner one may be dispensed with possibly, and in that case or in any case when a voter is at the machine the rod 100 will bar any one else from reaching a position in front of the machine. The spring 117 is mounted on the casing 93 under the trip-lever 109, as shown in Fig. 11, so as to stop the lever in the dotted-line position under action of the disk, but will not prevent the high tooth 116 from performing its function.

\Yhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination with avoting-maehine, of a gate-lever operatively connected with the voting-111achine and pivoted at its inner end so as to swing around toward the voting-machine, and a passage-way leading to the voting-machine and across which said lever extends, said passage-way up to the voting-niachine having its outer boundary curved concentric with the pivotal point of said lever.

Q. The combination with a voting-machine, of a gate-lever operatively connected with the voting-machine and pivoted at its inner end so as to swing around toward the voting-machine, a rod secured to said lever and projecting rearward therefrom at substan tial ly a right angle, and a passage-way leading to the veting-machine and across which said gate-lever extends, said passage-way up to the voting machine having its outer boundary curved concentric with the pivotal point of said lever.

3. The combination with a voting-machine having a shaft, of a pinion thereon, a countershaft, a gear on said counter-shaft for driving said pinion, a ratchet-wheel on said countershaft, a plate loosely mounted concentric with In witness whereof I have hereunto affixed and ad acent sald ratchet-Wheel, spnng-pawls i my slgnature in the presence of the Witnesses 10 on said plate adapted to engage the ratcheti hereln named.

Wheel, and actuate it When the plate is 10- a s r\ 5 tated in one direction, a passage-Way leading BR'ILD LAISEY' to the voting-machine, and a gate-lever se- Witnesses: cured at one end to said plateand extending V. H LOOKWOOD,

\ across said passage-Way. g NELLIE ALLEMONG 

